


Felis lokius

by Lise



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Cat Loki, Gen, Harm to Animals, Light-Hearted, Loki Does What He Wants, WHAT A NOVELTY, a fic in which things are basically okay, you have no idea how long i've been working on this idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lise/pseuds/Lise
Summary: The domestic cat formerly known as Loki.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So you know how sometimes I start fic based on common fandom tropes and then it runs away with me and gets...weirdly long and involved? Yeah, so, a long while ago I started writing one of those "Loki gets turned into a cat and is stuck with the (first version of) the Avengers" fics and then it got weirdly long and involved and I only just now finished it. This was a lot of fun. And very unlike most of my fic. 
> 
> This fic is dedicated to my [beta](http://ameliarating.tumblr.com), and also my beta's cat, who inspired a lot of the cat behavior in this fic. 
> 
> Enjoy. As always, I can be found on my tumblr @veliseraptor far too often for my own good. You also get extra bonus content that way. And the freshest of glimpses at my writing process, which is mostly [screams!!!!].

“My friends,” Thor said, his expression undeniably sheepish, “there has been a slight…problem.”

An earsplitting yowl came from the bundle of red in Thor’s arms, and it squirmed, violently. Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Thor,” he said cautiously. “Did you rescue a stray cat?”

“Not exactly.” Thor’s eyes slid a little to the side. “Not precisely a stray.” The bundle thrashed again, and Steve caught a slight wince. Thor hesitated, then added, “it is…difficult to explain.”

Bruce was eying the bundle warily. Clint looked like he was trying not to grin, and Steve did have to admit that Thor clutching the thrashing bundle of his own cape did look a sight. Natasha wasn’t bothering to hide her smile. “Want to try?” She said.

Thor looked down at his burden and sighed. It squalled again, loudly, and one black paw abruptly burst free and clawed fruitlessly at Thor’s chest. “Well,” he began, “You know that I was battling Amora recently?”

“What does that have to do with a cat?” Clint asked, still looking amused. Thor’s face pinched.

“I did not tell you that – Loki turned up in the midst of it.”

Steve saw Clint’s smile slip out of the corner of his eye. “Okay,” he said, slowly. “I’m still not sure how…”

Thor looked down again at the thrashing bundle loudly making its displeasure known.

“Oh, no,” Bruce said. “You can’t be serious.”

Thor’s expression was forlorn. “Jane won’t let me keep him in the house anymore,” he said sadly. “He is not…very well behaved. And I cannot simply let him go! It’s not safe!”

“No,” Tony said, eyes going a little wide. “No, no, no. Are you actually trying to tell me that-”

Steve frowned, still not quite sure what he was supposed to be getting from this. Loki had appeared in the middle of a fight between Amora and Thor and now Thor was here with a cat that-

Oh.

“Thor,” he said slowly. “Are you trying to tell me that… _that_ is Loki?”

Another loud yowl emitted from the bundle of Thor’s cape, and Thor gave him a sad, helpless look. “Yes,” he said. “It is.”

* * *

“I am not sure how much he is…just a cat, and how much still Loki,” Thor said. He was sitting on the couch, now, the rest of them circled around, and stroking the still cloth-swathed cat gently. “But it seems that he cannot change back, for one reason or another, and he is – _vulnerable_ like this.”

Clint looked like he was torn between laughter and wanting to be somewhere else, his eyes fixed on the still squirming little bundle. “Do you have any idea how _long_ this is going to last?”

Thor shook his head. “No, I am afraid I do not. I know little of magic.” Getting a good look at Thor’s arms, Steve could see now that there were scratches all over them. “It could be…any length of time.”

“So take him back to Asgard,” Natasha said, eyebrows a little raised. “Surely they can manage one cat. Might do better than with the full grown version.”

Thor’s expression flickered a little and he didn’t quite look at Natasha. Steve sighed. “Let me guess: it’s not safe.”

Thor’s expression set. “If I cannot expect your help in insuring that Loki does not wander off and get himself killed while he is like this, then I shall manage on my own.”

“I don’t like cats,” Tony protested. “I’ve never liked cats. I like even less cats that are usually supervillains. Do you know what kind of damage one of those things can do?”

Natasha crossed her arms. “No more than you do on a regular basis. I’m more worried about the possibility that this could be some kind of trick.”

Thor shook his head. “I do not think so. Loki would mislike any trick that required him to be so vulnerable, and he has done nothing but try to get away from me since his transformation.” A brief flicker of pain crossed Thor’s face. “I merely need a place for him to stay. He can be shut in my rooms here. I will feed and mind him – I do not ask any of you to be responsible.”

Silence. Bruce spoke up first. “Well – might be famous last words, but I don’t see the harm in it. As long as Thor keeps him shut up…”

Clint cleared his throat. “I feel – _really weird_ saying this, but it _is_ Loki. Can we really expect him to stay shut away?”

Tony groaned. “And that’s just what I need. A cat-slash-supervillain wandering around in _my_ building. No, thanks.”

Natasha’s mouth twitched up at one corner. “And there is the problem of when he changes back – assuming he does eventually.”

“Thor,” Steve asked slowly. “Where would you go, if not here?”

“I do not know.” Thor sighed. “I will find somewhere, I suppose.” He looked so forlorn, so _unhappy._

“I’m with Bruce,” Steve said, finally. “I think we can handle one cat – and if it comes down to it, I know we can handle Loki.”

Clint stared at the bundle like it might attack him, and finally shook his head, mouth twisting in a grimace. “Just keep him away from me, and fine.”

Natasha shrugged. “Fine by me. I think Loki knows that if he scratches me I’ll scratch back.”

The five of them looked at Tony, who threw up his hands. “I hate cats and I hate all of you,” he proclaimed. “But fine, fine. Thor, don’t make that face at me. If I see that thing in my lab, though…”

Thor looked a little choked up. “Thank you,” he said, voice full of emotion. “I am very grateful for your willingness to help us – help _me._ I will see to it that Loki does not cause any trouble.”

The bundle in Thor’s lap had quieted, and Thor must have relaxed his grip, because just as Thor finished his sentence a black blur shot out from under Thor’s hands and across the room, darting between the legs of the Avengers and ending up perched on top of a high bookcase, giving them their first real look at the cat that had apparently until recently been their original nemesis.

Loki did make a pretty cat, Steve thought. Sleek and black with green-blue eyes. There was a silver bell jingling around his neck. Hunched up on top of the bookcase, he hissed loudly, small white teeth bared. He looked – well, very literally like a cornered animal.

“No trouble,” Tony said, almost muttered. “Sure.”

* * *

Thor managed to keep Loki contained in his rooms in the Tower for maybe a full day.

The first alert that he’d escaped his confinement came from Clint’s room, with a yell loud enough to bring Steve and Tony running from the next floor up.

“He’s _in my room!_ ” Clint yelled when they got there, standing out in the hallway with a switchblade in one hand and gesticulating wildly at his doorway. “He’s _in my fucking bedroom!_ ”

“Who is?” Steve asked, trying to look past Clint.

“Loki!” Clint snapped, and for a moment Steve was confused about why Clint sounded pissed rather than alarmed, and then remembered Loki’s current condition. Tony looked like he wanted to laugh.

“Cats make you nervous, Hawkeye?” he said, expression slipping toward amusement. “Makes sense, natural predators and all that.” Clint’s jaw twitched.

“They do when they’re crazy aliens in cat form,” Clint said. “I thought Thor was supposed to be keeping him in his room, but I was just reading and then I looked up and he was fucking _perched on my desk_ and _staring_ with his tail doing that back and forth twitchy thing.”

Steve sighed, a combination of relieved and annoyed. “Was your door open?”

“No,” Clint said. “Which is the other question – how the hell did he get in?”

“Magic,” Tony said, expression perfectly innocent. Clint glared at him, and Steve shook his head.

“I’ll go take him back to Thor,” Steve said wearily. “I’m sorry, Clint. I’ll see if Thor knows how he got out and can keep it from happening again.”

“He’d better,” Clint said savagely. “Gives me the creeps. I swear he was looking at me like I’m a fucking mouse or something.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and flipped the switchblade closed. “If he comes back here, so help me, I’m not going to play nice just because he’s small and furry at the moment.”

Tony snickered. “Maybe he’ll pounce on your feet. Pretty scary.”

“Tony,” Steve said warningly, and stepped past Clint into his room. Sure enough, the black cat that was apparently Loki was sitting on Clint’s desk, though no longer crouched but rather calmly licking his paw and using it to groom behind his ears. He regarded Steve with something Steve could have sworn was innocence, though the moment Steve took a step in his direction he stopped grooming and hissed. “Easy,” Steve said, holding up both his hands, but the cat – Loki – rose, back arching, and then jumped down and streaked across the floor. He was fast, but Steve’s reflexes were faster, and he dropped down and snatched him up before Loki could slip by.

He ended up with a bundle of hissing, spitting, yowling cat clawing at his arms. Steve adjusted his grip, wincing, and tried to make soothing noises, shifting his hold to hopefully be more comfortable as he exited Clint’s room. To his surprise, his fumbling fingers found a spot behind the cat’s ears that seemed to soothe his ire, though his claws remained hooked in Steve’s skin. For all Tony’s snickering, he still took a small step back when Steve emerged, eyeing the cat – it was so hard to think of him as “Loki” – warily.

“Do you know some ancient civilizations used to think cats were evil?” He said, when Steve looked at him. “I’m just saying. Normal cats are bad enough.”

Steve stopped scratching for a moment and claws dug sharply into his skin. He winced and resumed. “All right,” he said to Clint, “your room’s clear. I’ll take him back to Thor and tell him to keep a closer eye on him.”

“Next time I’m pinning his tail to the floor,” Clint said, and then squinted at Steve. “Are you scratching his ears?”

“It seems to calm him down a little,” Steve said. “I guess he’s at least a little bit cat.” He hoped mostly cat; he didn’t need Loki to develop a personal grudge against him because Steve had gotten _overfamiliar with his person_ , or however he’d probably put it.

“Careful,” Tony said, “he’s going to start liking you. Next thing you know he’ll pee on your bed to show affection, or something.”

“Better you than me,” Clint said ruthlessly. Steve sighed and shook his head, heading for the stairs. Loki seemed to have resigned himself, at least for the moment, though every time Steve stopped petting him his claws dug in again.

* * *

Thor was effusively apologetic and scolded Loki as though he could understand every word – which for all Steve knew, he did. The handoff went fairly smoothly, as Loki seemed to have been lulled into relative peace and let Steve transfer him into Thor’s arms without struggling much – which was to say he only acquired a few more scratches, and Thor somewhat more than that.

“It will not happen again,” Thor promised.

It did happen again.

Natasha stormed down to the common room holding a pair of fuzzy slippers and dropped them on Thor’s lap. “Your brother threw up in my favorite pair of slippers,” she said, and indeed a distinct smell was wafting from them. Steve leaned back away from it.

Thor looked dismayed. “When?”

“Relatively recently, as far as I can tell, but he’d already vacated the premises by the time I found those.” She gestured at the slippers. “I thought you were going to keep him _contained._ ”

“I was – I am!” Thor protested. “I do not know how he slips out-”

“You’d better _find_ out,” Natasha said, her voice full of menace. “Or I’m going to make my next pair of slippers out of his hide, just watch me.” Thor looked stricken and horrified. Natasha turned on her heel and stalked back out, leaving the soiled slippers on his lap. He picked them up gingerly and turned to Steve.

“I truly don’t know how he is getting out,” Thor said, sounding helpless.

“Can you put him in a crate or something?” Steve said. “Just when you’re not in the room, or when you can’t keep an eye on him?”

Thor sighed. “I tried, when we were staying with Jane, but he did nothing but yowl and scratch and it was so – _sad_ that I could not.” He gave Steve a piteous look. “He truly is helpless. You all seem to think he is a malevolent presence of some kind, but at the moment – he ran off from Jane’s when I was not careful with the door. I only found him because he ran straight into a dog. It had his body in its _jaws,_ Steve, could have crushed him with a single snap and that would have – that would have been _it._ ”

Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re worried about him, Thor, but that’s exactly why you need to keep him locked up. No one here will actually hurt him on purpose – even Natasha,” he added, at Thor’s dubious look. “She wouldn’t do that to you. But accidentally? An unexpected cat underfoot, or in one of Tony’s labs, could get into a lot of trouble.”

“I know,” Thor said wearily. “If he were not so determined to get away from me…even as a cat, I cannot take care of my brother, it seems.” His smile was wry, and a little sad. Steve patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Maybe we can get you a leash,” Steve suggested. Thor chuckled and stood up.

“Thank you for listening, my friend,” he said. “I had best go find my brother, wherever he has hidden himself, before he gets into more mischief.”

Steve wasn’t entirely sure there was much of a point in trying to keep Loki who was also a cat out of mischief. It seemed like Thor was probably fighting a losing battle.

* * *

Steve woke up in the middle of the night to the buzzing of his phone on his desk. He glanced at the time – 2 a.m. – and groaned, pressing a hand over his eyes. He took a deep breath, stumbled over and picked up the phone with just a glance at the caller ID ( _Tony Stark,_ no surprises there). “What is it,” he asked, trying not to sound too grumpy.

“He’s under one of my worktables,” Tony said, sounding just on the edge of hysterical.

Steve spent a moment trying to make sense of that before giving up and saying, “what?”

“That _bastard’s_ under one of my worktables and he won’t come out,” Tony said. “I swear to god this was on purpose-”

“ _Who_ is under your worktable?” Steve asked, a little exasperated, and Tony said “Loki, obviously!” which was always going to sound a little funny.

“Oh.” He paused, processing, and then asked, “why are you calling _me?_ ”

“Thor doesn’t wake up when you try to call him in the middle of the night. Sleeps like a coma, I swear. Or maybe he’s just ignoring me…anyway, you were my second choice.”

“ _Why,_ ” Steve asked again, not quite a groan.

“I don’t know,” Tony said, “you’re not as, uh, intense as Clint or Natasha, and I don’t like interrupting Bruce’s sleep schedule? Besides, you’re Captain America. Isn’t rescuing kittens a thing that you do?”

Steve _did_ groan, then. “No, actually, that’s not a thing I’ve ever done.” He had _fed_ a stray cat once, in the tenements before the war, but he wasn’t going to mention that to Tony. But now he was awake, and… “All right, all right. I’m coming.”

He made his way to Tony’s lab and let himself in. Tony was standing in one corner of the room, arms crossed and staring fixedly at one of the tables. “I swear to god,” he said, not looking at Steve, “he’s messing with me. I don’t even know how he got _in_ here.”

“So, under that one?” Steve said, pointing. Tony gave him a baleful look.

“Don’t sound like that. This isn’t funny. He could’ve gotten into anything. Maybe this is all part of his nasty plan. Hey, asshole,” he yelled. “You hear that? I’m onto you.”

“Tony,” Steve said, and sighed. “Do you think it’s possible that he just got in here, like cats do, and then got scared and hid?”

“This is an alien sorcerer we’re talking about, Cap,” Tony said. “Not a cat. Though I’m not sure how much of a difference there is.”

Steve shook his head and moved toward the worktable Tony had been yelling at, realizing belatedly that he should have brought tuna, or cat food, or something. He crouched down to look under it, and could just make out a pair of gleaming eyes peering from behind one of the filing cabinets.

“Do you have a paper bag?” He asked. “Or, I don’t know, a string?”

“I have string,” Tony said. “You think you’re going to lure him out with that? I was thinking you’d just move the table and grab him when he tried to run-”

“I’d rather not get clawed all to pieces,” Steve said, drumming his fingers on the floor. He thought he caught a twitch back in the shadows, and clicked his tongue. “Hey there. Come on out, little fella.” It occurred to him briefly how odd it was that he had just, on some level, called _Loki_ a little fella. He could only hope Loki wasn’t fully…himself _._ Another small movement, and Loki slunk out just enough that Steve could make him out, crouched nearly flat to the ground in the small space between table and floor.

“I should be recording this,” Tony said, dangling a piece of string that Steve took, winding the end of it around his finger. “Seriously, this is YouTube gold. But I don’t really want to die if tall and horny comes back.”

Steve ignored him, playing the string across the floor, flicking it out of view and then back to dance across the ground in front of Loki’s stare, following its movements intently. He slunk forward a little further, paw stretching out to bat at empty air.

“Come on,” Steve murmured. “Can’t get it from in there.”

Finally, _finally,_ Loki emerged fully and pounced at the string, batting wildly at it until Steve let him catch it. Steve couldn’t help smiling a little as Loki rolled over to his back, trying to get a proper grip on his prey. “Evil personified,” he said, glancing at Tony.

“I don’t trust it,” he said. “It’s an act. A ruse. A trick. Some synonym of those. He was spying on me. Nearly gave me a heart attack, too, and if I’d tripped over him…”

“I think you’re taking the paranoia a little far,” Steve said, pulling the string away to get Loki chasing after it. “He seems like just a cat to me.”

“Famous last words, Cap,” Tony said. “Famous last words.”

* * *

Steve woke up to a weight moving on his chest and startled with a harsh intake of breath before he realized that he could hear purring. Loud purring. Coming from very close, and even as he thought it something furry brushed under his nose.

Steve groped over to the bedside table and turned on the lamp, just to confirm. Loki settled down comfortably on Steve’s chest, and Steve could have sworn he looked pleased with himself. Based on the loud purring, he certainly _seemed_ pleased.

“What did you do,” Steve asked, before realizing that he sounded like Tony. Still, he was _sure_ he’d closed his door. _Both_ doors, into the suite _and_ the bedroom. He looked toward the latter: open a crack, just wide enough for a skinny cat to slip in.

Steve sighed, picked Loki up – ignoring his claws trying to latch into his shirt, or maybe just he himself – and put him over the side of the bed. Before Steve could get far, though, he jumped right back up and was settling into his lap. No longer purring, though.

“You don’t sleep here,” Steve said, and picked him up again, this time keeping hold of him as he stood up. To his surprise, other than a brief needle prick of claw, Loki didn’t fight him. “Come on, let’s get you back to Thor-“

Loki’s ears went back and his claws sank into Steve’s arm, tearing himself loose and vanishing under Steve’s bed.

“Oh, for the love of-” Steve cut off and took a deep breath. With that kind of reaction to just Thor’s _name…_ how much of Loki _was_ in there? He stared at the bed, thinking about trying to coax him out, and finally shook his head. “Fine,” he said. “Fine. Suit yourself. Stay under the bed, I need to sleep.”

He flopped back onto bed and closed his eyes. Not a minute later he heard a small _thump_ and then paws on sheet. Loki climbed back onto his chest, putting what felt like as much weight into each individual paw as possible. He circled around and curled up on Steve’s ribs, tail twitching back and forth. Steve could just see the slits of him watching when he opened his eyes.

“Is this a test,” he asked. The narrow slit vanished and Loki started to purr.

Steve closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled. “Suit yourself.”

* * *

Loki was still there when he woke up in the morning, and he was actually sleeping. He was kind of cute, doing that. A pointy-faced, almost scrawny little thing.

Steve moved him carefully over – relieved when he didn’t kick up a fuss – and got out of bed, only to open the door at a frantic knocking. He hurried over and found Thor, looking nearly panicked.

“I’ve got him,” Steve said, before Thor could even ask, and his friend sagged.

“I am sorry,” he said. “I do not know how – truly, I have tried _everything,_ but he will not stay. Somehow he always finds a way out. But I am – very sorry, my friend, for any trouble-”

“It’s fine,” Steve said quickly. “It was actually…not all that bad. I mean, surprising to wake up with him in my room, but I just kind of ignored him and he went to sleep curled up on my chest.” He realized the moment after he said the words how odd they sounded, but Thor just looked relieved.

“He did not trouble you?”

“Not really,” Steve said. An odd expression crossed Thor’s face, sort of thoughtful and considering, and then he seemed to shake himself.

“I will take him back now,” he said. Steve indicated the bed, and then paused, looking at Thor’s marked arms.

“If you wanted,” he said carefully, “you could leave him here for a little while. Give yourself a break. I mean, if he keeps sleeping like this…”

Thor considered him. “Are you certain?” He asked. “I would not ask…”

“I’m offering,” Steve said. “Go see Jane, maybe. Go for a walk. Something nice.” He half smiled. “It’s an excuse to get some time to draw, for me.”

Thor nodded slowly. “If you are certain,” he said. “And if there is any trouble – if _he_ is any trouble – you will call me?”

“If it’s something I can’t handle,” Steve said. Thor looked like he was going to protest, then shook his head and smiled, clapping one hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“You are a good friend,” he said. “Thank you. I will not be too long.”

“Take your time,” Steve said. “You deserve a break.”

Thor left. Steve looked over at Loki through the bedroom door and caught just a sliver of open eye. “You hear that,” he said. “Just you and me. Hope you’re not planning on causing me any trouble.” Steve realized too late that that was probably like an invitation to the so-called god of mischief. The small slit of eye vanished, though.

He woke up perhaps an hour later and padded over to rub against Steve’s leg where he was sitting at his desk. Absently, he reached down to scratch behind his ears – and only realized he’d done so when Loki pushed his head into Steve’s hand with what sounded like a demanding meow. Then he snatched his hand back and stared at Loki, who promptly jumped up to Steve’s lap, turning so his tail swiped Steve’s nose, again seeming to put all his weight on one paw at a time.

“Ouch,” Steve said mildly, picking him up and dropping him to the floor. This time Loki jumped to the desk, walking across Steve’s drawings and batting one of his pencils to the floor. Steve locked eyes with him, and Loki stared back, green cat eyes giving the impression of distinct intelligence. For a moment, Steve wondered if Tony was onto something. If Loki wasn’t playing cat to get inside their guard, or something.

Then Loki rolled over and started batting at Steve’s fingers, stretching out belly up, and Steve shook himself. He reached out to scratch his offered stomach and Loki promptly latched onto his hand, back paws kicking at Steve’s arm and claws just pricking the skin. “Hey,” Steve said indignantly, jerking back, but Loki stretched out like he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Steve shook his head. “You’re impossible.”

Loki rolled over and sat down on Steve’s drawings, tail swishing back and forth and leaving smears of charcoal behind.

“I can’t tell if you like me or really don’t,” Steve said. But when he raised a hand cautiously to scratch Loki’s chin, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes in what _looked_ like a pleased expression.

* * *

Thor took Loki back to his quarters the next day, but that night Steve woke up to loud meowing outside his door. He got up and stumbled over; the second he opened it Loki zipped into the room and made a beeline for the bed, disappearing under it. Steve sighed and left him there until Thor came looking.

“I guess he’s decided my room is a good place to hide,” Steve said dryly, as Thor tried to coax Loki out from under the bed with little success. His attempt to grab for the little belled collar just ended in Thor nursing scratches on the back of his hand.

Thor sat back. “I think he likes you, my friend.”

Steve blinked. “I think he just likes bothering me.”

Thor sat back, an odd expression on his face. “I do not know. For whatever reason, he does not seem to feel as though he is safe with me. He sought shelter here.”

“I don’t know why,” Steve said honestly. “I’m not even really a cat person. I don’t have anything _against_ them, but…” On a whim, though, he crouched down at the end of the bed and clicked his tongue, tapping his fingers on the floor. “Hsst, Loki,” he offered.

A mew from under the bed came in answer, followed shortly by the butt of a furry head against his hand. Steve looked at Thor a little helplessly, who gave him a half smile. “He likes you,” Thor insisted. Loki butted his head against Steve’s hand again, and he rubbed a thumb behind one of his ears without thinking.

“How much do you really think he understands?” Steve asked after a moment, lowering his voice. “How much is he…himself?”

Thor shook his head. “I do not know. Sometimes I think more, sometimes less, but – I have no way of knowing, truly. Nor any way of knowing when the spell may where off.” His expression flickered. “Or if.”

“If?” Steve glanced down at the sleek black cat now climbing into his lap. “He could be stuck like this forever?” The question popped into his head – _does he keep his lifespan like this?_ That was just – a little horrifying, though.

“I do not know,” Thor said heavily. “I…Steve. I am sorry, but may I ask for your…continued help with him? He does not require much. But it would ease my heart if I knew…”

“You can bring him here,” Steve said, finding a smile. “Maybe I’ll get a cat toy or something so he doesn’t chew on my drawings.” Thor looked immensely relieved, and Steve found a smile. “You’re my friend, Thor.”

Loki curled up on Steve’s lap and began kneading his thigh, not very gently. Steve moved to shift him off his lap and Loki gave him such an offended look that Steve stopped. “Sorry,” he said, and then wanted to laugh at himself. He glanced at Thor, who looked like something was hurting him.

“May I take a picture of you with him?” He asked, holding up his StarkPhone.

“Sure,” Steve said, and smiled obligingly.

* * *

They settled into a kind of routine. Loki was either in Thor’s room or, if he slipped out of there, in Steve’s. For the most part. He still seemed, sometimes, to find his way into all kinds of places he shouldn’t be able to get into. Tony dubbed him the “magic supervillain cat” and refused to refer to him by name for any reason. He and Natasha ignored each other, and Loki seemed to take uncanny pleasure in hunting Clint’s feet when he could catch him. He avoided Bruce like the plague and Thor’s presence sent him high-tailing out of the room, or else hissing to the highest point, where he sometimes got stuck.

But for Steve he’d curl up on his lap, a slight furry weight, or rub against Steve’s legs, or (less pleasant) climb onto his chest when Steve was getting ready for bed and stare at him with tail twitching.

“Riddle me this,” Tony asked. “why is the magic supervillain cat obsessed with Steve?”

“Tony,” Natasha said mildly, “you can’t talk from ‘obsessed with Steve.’” Tony’s face went a little pink, as did Steve’s, and Natasha took a delicate bite of her steak. “This is great, Clint. Thanks.”

“It’s because Steve’s the only one who’s nice to him who isn’t Thor or Bruce,” Clint said. “And thanks, Nat.”

Steve wondered if it was that simple. “You don’t think I’m just the cat whisperer?” He offered.

“Supervillain whisperer,” Tony corrected. “Supervillain who happens to be a cat. When he gets bored and changes back, we’ll just have Steve give him a scratch and a cuddle.” Tony leered, and Steve grimaced at him.

When Steve got back to his room after dinner, Loki was already sitting on his windowsill, staring out the window with his tail twitching back and forth.

“What’re you looking at?” Steve asked. “See a bird? Or a bat?” One of Loki’s ears flicked, but he didn’t turn his head. Steve walked over and peered out, but all he could see were the city lights. Maybe that was enough to hold a curious cat’s attention.

Steve shook his head a little and went to take a long shower and shave. When he reemerged, Loki was still staring out the window. Steve stopped again, a little disconcerted. Weren’t animals supposed to be able to sense earthquakes and other natural disasters? What if this was like that? Or even magic, since he _was_ in some ways a magic cat.

After a few moments, Steve shook himself and got into bed. It was probably just some bats, or an interesting pattern of lights. He woke up a little when Loki curled up next to his neck, but went back to sleep fast.

* * *

A splinter cell of AIM attacked the tower. They didn’t get far – some damage to the lobby, a few new bullet holes in the walls – but it was still unpleasant. As usual, Clint came out of it with some cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a concussion. Also as usual, Thor got out of it unscathed.

In the confusion, it wasn’t until the next morning that Steve realized he hadn’t seen Loki since the attack.

“That’s it,” Tony said. “We were wondering how AIM broke my security, _obviously_ this was all part of his plan and he cut and ran while his lackeys were doing the dirty work-”

“Loki’s never worked with AIM before,” Natasha pointed out.

“He’s never been a supervillain cat before, either,” Tony said. “First time for everything!”

“I don’t know,” Clint said. “I’d think if this was all part of his plan he’d want to show up and gloat. My guess is that he’s just done the cat thing and is hiding somewhere. This tower’s big. He’ll turn up. Probably in _my_ room because he’s fucking _stalking_ me,” he added. Thor did not look convinced.

“What if they took him?” He asked. “AIM – what if they stole Loki-”

“Oh,” Natasha said, eyebrows furrowing. “That could be bad.”

Steve stayed quiet. He had a bad, uncertain feeling about all of this, and while he hoped Clint was right…he thought about what Thor had said, about Loki taking off into the wild. Loki who was, whatever Tony thought, basically just a cat. If he’d gotten spooked and bolted…

“What if he just…ran off?” Steve said. “Got scared by the noise.”

Thor looked almost more stricken by that prospect. “He could be anywhere!”

“You don’t have a microchip in him? I can’t believe we didn’t stick a microchip in him,” Tony said.

“I’m telling you,” Clint said. “Loki’s – the cat’s smart. He’ll turn up. Unless you want to start sticking up _have you seen my Loki_ posters around town, or go shake down AIM about whether they knew that Loki is currently a cat and oh, did you maybe steal him, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”

Thor stood up with a loud scrape of his chair. “I am going to put up posters,” he announced, and left.

“We’re going to be so fucked if that cat is dead,” Tony said. Bruce gave him a nasty look.

Steve stood up and followed Thor.

* * *

“If we get Thor a new black cat do you think he’ll know the difference,” Tony asked. Steve gave him a hard look and Tony held up his hands. “Just asking.”

Steve slapped a stack of “missing cat” posters on Tony’s chest. “Why don’t you put some of those up? Seems like you’re bored.”

Tony gave _him_ a dirty look, but glanced toward Thor moping by the window and didn’t argue. Loki had been missing for two days and Steve was starting to feel like he was probably gone.

That…hurt, more than he would’ve expected it to. He was worrying about – _upset_ about – a cat. A cat who was also a supervillain. Sort of.

“Can you turn off the rain, Thor?” Clint asked, a little plaintively. “You know, a cat out in this weather’s not going to do great.”

Thor looked stricken. The sky flickered ominously, but the rain stopped. “Hey,” Steve said, trying to sound reassuring. “He might be vulnerable, but this is still Loki, right? He’s smart.”

Thor looked at him sadly. “I know it,” he said. “But I fear ‘smart’ is not enough.” He stood up and left the room. Clint looked at Steve and pulled a face.

“Sad Thor is really a bummer,” he said. “I almost said the sentence ‘don’t worry, we’ll get Loki back safe’ and that’s just an unnerving thing to have almost come out of my mouth.”

Steve sighed. “I’m going to go look again,” he said. “Be back.”

He headed out of the tower, wearing a jacket just in case Thor’s mood slipped again, to do a slow circuit of the block, scanning under parked cars and in alleyways. He caught himself before calling Loki’s name, though, just trying to keep his ears peeled. Maybe he’d catch the bell on his collar jingling, though it was probably a long shot his still having it on.

It was an even longer shot that Steve heard anything. The wind blowing in the right direction, a brief break in traffic, and he heard a very soft, very quiet sound, more like a squall than anything else. It was odd enough to catch his attention, and Steve turned toward it to see an alley with a dumpster and a few boxes of cardboard. He couldn’t see any signs of movement, but he took a step forward and clicked his tongue, crouching down.

Something moved under the dumpster and this time the noise sounded more like a cat, but he couldn’t make out any color or anything. Steve sat back, wishing he had some food or something.

“Loki?” He said, keeping his voice low and feeling a little foolish. “Come on out, it’s safe.”

The shadow under the dumpster squalled again. Steve considered trying to extend a hand, but he didn’t want to wind up with cat-scratch fever. He clicked his tongue again. “Here, Loki,” he said, and then remembered that that was for dogs. No sign of movement.

It occurred to Steve suddenly that maybe the cat _couldn’t_ move. Was stuck. And even if it wasn’t Loki…

“Okay,” he said, mostly to himself. “Okay.” He stood up and rolled his shoulders, then picked up the dumpster and moved it a foot to the side. The cat yowled and Steve quickly set it down so he could grab it before it bolted, but when he looked down it was pretty clear that a) it wasn’t going anywhere and b) he thought he’d found Loki, and c) he looked like he’d gotten in a fight. A bad one. One of his hind legs looked like it was at a wrong angle and his fur was matted and missing in patches. Steve crouched down and reached for him, wincing, but Loki hissed, teeth bared. Steve pulled his hand back.

“What _happened_ to you,” Steve asked. Loki made what looked like a valiant effort to get up on all fours and ended up flopping back down with a pained yowl. Steve half reached out again, pulled back, and after a moment shrugged out of his jacket and picked Loki up carefully in that.

Loki yowled louder and started to thrash only to quiet as Steve wrapped him up more securely against his chest, swaddling him in jacket. Steve shifted his grip so he could pull his phone out to look up the nearest veterinary clinic. He could only hope that there was nothing about Loki as a cat that would register too weirdly on any x-rays.

* * *

To Steve’s relief, it seemed that Loki’s injuries weren’t as bad as they looked. Still, the broken leg needed setting, several cuts needed stitches, and Steve got a laundry list of signs to watch out for and a prescription for cat antibiotics. When they brought him out in a temporary carrier post-surgery, he was still groggy and half asleep. Steve handed Loki gladly over to Thor and pretended he didn’t notice the tears. Loki stayed limp and quiet, and even back at the tower when Thor opened the carrier Loki had to be coaxed out, the cast on his hind leg clearly making movement awkward on top of his semi-drugged state.

Were there cat painkillers? Steve wondered. Was he going to be in pain once the last of the anesthetic wore off?

Loki didn’t go far, just curled up on a blanket, leg sticking out, and apparently went to sleep.

“Steve,” Thor said, painfully earnest. “Thank you. If you had not found him…”

He gave Thor a weak smile. “Glad I did. Looks like he’s not made for the wild after all.”

Thor looked down. “I should have known something like this would happen,” he said. “That he would be in danger by being near me…maybe he should not stay here.”

Steve felt an unexpected pang. “Where would you send him?”

“I don’t know.” Thor sighed. “Where would be safe? And I have received word that I am being summoned back, that there is some difficulty with Alfheim…”

“I’ll look after him while you’re gone,” Steve said, without thinking, and then blinked at himself. Of course it was the good thing to do, but he’d almost jumped at the opportunity.

“You are certain?” Thor said. “I know it will not be easy, while he is recovering. Loki has always made a poor patient.”

Steve looked at Loki, a small black smudge on the blanket, fast asleep. “I think I can manage.”

* * *

Steve should have known better than to think an injured Loki would be easy to deal with. He wasn’t. Of _course_ he wasn’t. He _hated_ the cast and kept trying to get out of it. He wouldn’t leave his stitches alone, so Steve had to put a plastic cone on him, which Loki liked even less than the cast. He pretended to take the antibiotics only to spit them into the vents, and seemed unwilling to acknowledge that he might have limits or should slow down a little, maybe.

At least he didn’t seem to hate Steve now. On the contrary, he followed him around more closely than ever. He _did_ seem to have decided that perching on Steve’s shoulder was an ideal place to be, which would have been fine if it weren’t for the unwieldy cast.

Steve tried shutting him in the bathroom when he had to leave for a briefing, and came back to find that not only had Loki somehow gotten out, he’d also peed on the bath mat and left a hairball on Steve’s pillow, apparently in revenge.

The catnip toy Steve bought him seemed to make up for it, though, and also proved sufficiently distracting for Steve to escape.

“You’re getting attached,” Natasha said, when he slipped out into the hallway. Steve frowned at her.

“I’m just trying to help out Thor.”

“Maybe at first. But you like him.” Natasha’s tone wasn’t quite accusatory. Steve stopped walking and turned to look at her.

“Is that a problem? He’s a _cat._ ”

“For now,” Natasha said. “And he’s pretty obviously not _just_ that, anyway. I know Clint – he doesn’t leave his doors unlocked. So how’d Loki get in? Or into Tony’s passcode-locked lab? I’m not saying I’m on board with Tony’s _this is all part of his nefarious plan_ idea, but that’s still no ordinary cat, and we have no idea how long he’ll stay this way. What happens when he changes back?”

“Then we deal with it when that happens,” Steve said, though he felt an odd pang. Maybe he _had_ gotten a little attached, and the idea of losing the cat Loki (who, while infuriating at times, was also not just that) and getting back the other one (for whom ‘infuriating’ was mild) was not an appealing one.

“That simple? What if he changes back in the middle of the night, _in your room._ He could kill you before anyone knew what was going on. And probably not just you.”

Steve rubbed his eyes. “What are you saying we should do? Stick a cat in a detention cell?”

Natasha shrugged. “Maybe.”

“And what if this _is_ permanent?” Steve shot back. “What if he’s just – like this, now? Do we just leave a cat – even a magical cat – in a cell forever?”

“I’d rather that than you wake up dead,” Natasha said. Steve shook his head.

“No,” he said, and added, “besides, Thor would never agree to it. He’d just take Loki somewhere else, where none of us could keep an eye on him.”

Natasha sighed. “I know,” she said. “That’s the big problem.”

“Right now he’s injured, anyway,” Steve pointed out. “I don’t think he’s a huge threat.”

“People have said that about me before, and usually lived to regret it,” Natasha said.

“Sure,” Steve said, “but you’re not a cat.”

Natasha’s lips twitched. “True. And no one’s ever made me wear a plastic cone.”

When Steve got back to his room, Loki appeared to have worn himself out. Steve picked him up, intending to carry him to the cat bed (barely used) that was supposed to be his, but stopped when Loki started purring without even a token effort at squirming away.

“Maybe I’m not the only one getting attached,” Steve said to Loki, who kept purring. Maybe he was just high out of his cat mind, but it was still nice.

The thought occurred to Steve that he’d never seen normal Loki this happy, broken leg and stitches and all. There was something a little sad about that.

* * *

Thor came back after Loki’s stitches were removed, the initial cast replaced with a smaller and more maneuverable one. Loki let himself be held for a record ten seconds before digging his claws into Thor’s arms, but at least he didn’t try to jump down.

“He looks well,” Thor said. “Healthy. And healing well.”

“Seems like,” Steve said.

“And he has not been too much trouble?”

“No more than I could handle,” Steve said, which was mostly true. Loki squirmed and Thor bent to set him down with a sigh. He limped around both their legs and then over to the water bowl, back pointedly turned.

“He seems…more at ease,” Thor said slowly. “Though perhaps that is merely his injuries wearying him.”

Steve glanced at Thor. “You think it’s something else?”

“I think he _is_ fond of you, in some fashion,” Thor said.

Steve thought of what Clint had said. “I’m just the only one – other than you – who’s nice to him. Figures that he would like me better.”

“Perhaps you underestimate how great a thing that is,” Thor said. “Loki…if he retains any of his self – there has been little enough kindness in his life for some time.” Steve supposed that was probably true, if a little sad. And Loki certainly did seem less...stressed like this than he did as a person. “And even if he does not,” Thor went on, “there is nothing simple or small about being nice.”

Steve gave Thor a sidelong look and a bit of a smile. “Now _you’re_ just being nice to _me._ ”

“I am sincere,” Thor said, sincerely. Steve could feel his face getting warm. “Do not diminish yourself.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Steve said awkwardly. Thor patted him companionably on the shoulder.

The moment was interrupted by Loki coughing a hairball onto the carpet. Steve almost thought it might be revenge for the fact that they weren’t paying him enough attention.

* * *

The next trip to the veterinarian – which Steve left to Thor, who came back a mess of scratches but still smiling – saw Loki’s cast removed entirely after what the vet called _an astonishingly swift recovery._ So Loki was a cat, but he was at least a remarkably durable one. That seemed like something.

As his limp eased to nothing, Loki returned to his usual routine – avoiding Bruce and Thor, cuddling up to Steve, and terrorizing everyone else, especially Clint. Interestingly enough, though, he stuck with Steve most often.

He stayed in Steve’s rooms more often, even when he was out, winding around Steve’s legs when he came back, sitting in his lap (or, sometimes, on his art) when Steve was trying to work. He was growing comfortable with this sleek, black, occasional nuisance of a cat. He _noticed_ if Loki didn’t turn up, or kept his distance, or seemed off.

Steve caught himself wishing once or twice, selfishly, that Loki wouldn’t change back. He _liked_ Loki-the-cat.

It was a bit of an unnerving realization to come to.

But Thor, he knew, had to wish otherwise. Even if just the other day Loki had let Thor hold him for almost a minute and a half without trying to claw him to shreds. Of course, afterwards he’d jumped down and made a great show of washing himself, but it was probably the most nonviolent contact Thor had gotten to have with his brother in a long while.

All things considered, Steve thought, it was almost like he was some kind of weird, former-supervillain mascot.

“You wouldn’t appreciate that, I bet,” Steve said, looking up from his half-finished doodle of Loki batting around a Doombot. Loki was staring out the window again, ears back in feline displeasure.

Steve got up and walked over to look through, but all he could see was the dusk sky and the city skyline. “Some bird giving you flack?” Steve asked, but of course Loki did not answer.

* * *

Steve woke up with Loki yowling in his face loud enough to wake the dead, claws digging into Steve’s chest.

“Wha-?” Steve said groggily, and pushed Loki off, his head full of sleepy fuzz. “Loki, cut it out.”

He closed his eyes. Loki bit him, hard. Steve yelped, eyes jerking back open, and Loki hissed right in his face, fur standing on end. _Something’s wrong,_ Steve realized, and then registered that he could smell something acrid and unpleasant. Gas.

He fought his way to his feet and stumbled to the window, feeling uncoordinated and clumsy, and just managed to shove it open after three tries. He stuck his head out and almost immediately and breathed deeply; the rush of oxygen almost hurt and his head cleared.

“JARVIS?” Steve called, to no response. The others, he thought, and leaving the window open grabbed the shield and headed for the hallway. Loki slipped out after him and bolted down the hall, heading for the stairs. Steve ran after him after only a moment’s pause. The hallway, to his relief, seemed to be clear so far.

_Of course he smelled the gas first, he’s a cat,_ Steve thought, but on its heels, _then he should’ve been affected first, too._

There were four men in gas masks on the stairs. Steve dealt with three; the last seemingly tripped over Loki and cracked his head at the foot of the stairs. Steve grabbed one of the gas masks and moved on.

Whoever they were, they hadn’t come expecting much of a fight. Steve took them by surprise. He met up with Clint and Nat on the twenty-eighth floor, who had apparently been awake when the leak started, and Tony and Bruce on the sixteenth, who had been in a sealed lab. Which left Thor on the fifteenth, and Loki, who had vanished.

Or, as it turned out, was under Thor’s bed. Thor, whose window was broken and who still looked groggy and confused.

“What in Hel’s name happened?” He asked, looking grouchily at them from where he was crouched on the floor. “I woke with my head pounding, my window broken, and Loki-“

“AIM again,” Tony said. “They tried to gas us.”

Steve looked at the broken window. “You didn’t break that?”

“No,” Thor said crossly. “I did not.”

“Huh,” Steve said, glancing toward the bed. Or, rather, under it. A cat shouldn’t be able to break a window. Or get through locked doors, or resist a gas attack. Not an ordinary cat. Maybe not even an extraordinary one.

Under the bed, Loki yowled, and Thor snatched his scratched hand back. “What is that cat’s _problem,_ ” Clint said.

“I don’t know,” Steve said slowly. “But I’m pretty sure he saved my life.”

Tony looked at him like he was crazy.

* * *

Steve didn’t actually _see_ anyone coax Loki out, but when he was ready to go to sleep there he was, curled up on one of the pillows and watching Steve with bright, bright green eyes. Steve studied him.

“You know what I think,” he said eventually. “I think Tony’s wrong. I don’t think all of this was your plan.” One of Loki’s ears twitched, but he didn’t blink. “But,” Steve went on, “I don’t actually think you’re stuck, either. At least not anymore.”

Loki yawned, long pink tongue and white fangs showing.

“I think,” Steve went on, only feeling a little foolish, “that at least for a little while now you’ve been…getting better. Getting back some control of yourself, and more…awareness. And maybe you _could_ change back but you haven’t. Because maybe on some level you kind of _like_ …this. Not the cat part, necessarily, but…not being on your own. Having people look after you.” He crossed his arms and waited, not sure what he was expecting. Loki curled up, apparently going to sleep.

Steve sighed. “Or,” he said, “I’m completely wrong, and you’re just a slightly weird ordinary cat, and Thor’s window broke itself.” He changed into his pajamas, picked Loki up, and moved him over so he could get into bed. Loki promptly climbed onto him and laid back down.

“If I’m right, though,” Steve said at length. “You know, not everything needs to change if you _did_ …go back to being yourself. You don’t _have_ to be our enemy. That’s up to you. Thor’d be overjoyed, and I’d…well, I’d rather not go back to fighting you either. I think we’d all prefer that.”

Not so much as a single meow in response. Steve shook his head and stroked his sleek back, resting his hand for a moment where he could feel Loki’s body move with his breathing. He started purring again, and Steve could feel the vibration, weirdly, in his stomach.

“Yeah, okay,” he mumbled. “Just make yourself comfortable. Go right ahead.” Loki yawned again in what looked like exaggeration, green eyes opening just to slits to look at Steve and then closing again. Steve shook his head and let his head drop back to the pillow.

* * *

Steve slept soundly and woke up what he judged by the light to be late in the morning. The slight weight of Loki sleeping on his chest was gone, and Steve was surprised he hadn’t heard him demanding to be fed. He thought about what he’d said last night and almost wanted to flush at how stupid the whole thing seemed with a little bit of rest and some serious thought.

Something prickled on the back of Steve’s neck, and he rolled over, half reaching to nudge Loki out of the way.

“Good morning,” Loki said.

Loki, who wasn’t a cat anymore, and was lying on Steve’s bed, stark naked.

“Oh,” Steve said.

He could’ve sworn that Loki’s grin showed fangs.


End file.
